Upon license expiration, the vCenter Server software and the ESX/ESXi software continue to run, but certain operations stop working.

If a vCenter Server license expires, the managed hosts become disconnected from the vCenter Server inventory, and you cannot add hosts to the inventory. The hosts and the virtual machines on the hosts continue to run. By using the vSphere Client to connect directly to the host, you can power on or reset the virtual machines.

After you assign a valid vCenter Server license, you can reconnect all the hosts at once as follows:

1

From the vCenter Server inventory, select the datacenter.

2

Select the Hosts tab.

3

Shift-click or Ctrl-click to select the hosts.

4

Right-click and select Connect.

If an ESX/ESXi host license expires, the virtual machines that reside on the host continue to run, but you cannot power on the virtual machines or reset them.